


Take Me To Wonderland

by Nariel



Series: Secrets of the Stars [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alice in Wonderland, Family Bonding, Gen, Halloween, Some angst, There's an off-camera mention of Mipsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 21:39:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6724594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nariel/pseuds/Nariel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seldom are things always as they seem. Ideas and spin-offs from the Stars in the Silence timeline.</p><p>Part 2: Regulus muses over his favourite story. For some reason, Aquila is very amused when he says that it’s Alice in Wonderland, and his reasoning for it. And then he makes the mistake of mentioning some Muggle places he’d like to visit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take Me To Wonderland

"Why do you like that story so much?"

Regulus blinks, and he throws a curious look at Barty. "Which one?"

His companion motions towards where his siblings are sitting, Aquila reclining gracefully as she read another tome on runes, while Sirius lounges with his head on her thigh. Regulus sometimes wondered exactly how much Aquila knew about the subject, considering he rarely sees her without a tome or her notebook out of reach of her person. Regulus' attention drifts back to Barty, and he caught the tail end of his – friend? Companion? Ally? Study mate? – guest's elaboration, "-the puppets; about the Muggle who falls into that odd magical place."

Regulus blinks, "Oh? You mean _Alice in Wonderland_?"

At Barty's nod, Regulus tilts his head back and stares at the elegantly carved designs on the ceiling. Why did he like it?

"It's an interesting idea don't you think? Falling into a world where things just don't make sense, when you've lived your whole life in a-" What was that word? "-structured manner. And then you find out that, not only is everything illogical, you also could get hurt over such small things because the people there just don't make sense either?" Regulus glances at Barty, who's sporting a thoughtful look.

He misses the look Aquila sends him, continuing, "I think that Alice is a nice character, you know? She learns from her mistakes, and finds ways to solve problems that she'd never met before."

Maybe that was how the mudbloods felt as well? Regulus frowns slightly. Muggleborns, Aquila said to call them Muggleborns. It was beneath elites like them to stoop to _name-calling_ , according to his sister. Regulus thought that it made sense, his breeding and background was superior, everybody knew that. Even Sirius had agreed. He'd also added to the discussion, saying that always reminding or bragging about their blood to others would not show class. In his own words, _it was trashy_.

Although, the little boy keeps those thoughts to himself. Aquila may have been right, and he and Sirius may have agreed with her, but their mother most likely wouldn't. Nor would the other purebloods. Light grey eyes flicker towards the boy beside him. Regulus takes in the accepting but doubtful gaze Barty has on his face and exhales softly. No, he doesn't think Barty would understand, even if Aquila was the one explaining it to him.

Because even though Barty is extremely taken with Regulus' sister (and he should be, considering Aquila is absolutely fantastic and _the_ nicest sibling ever. Regulus hopes that Sirius never finds out about this, he'd whine about betrayals for _ages._ It's not that he prefers one over the other, but Sirius loves competition, even jokingly.) he hadn't been exposed to Aquila chiding him for years not to say such terms, he hadn't heard the lectures Aquila gave to him and Sirius about how Muggles were not inferior just because of their lack of magic, nor had he seen Aquila argue with their parents over the propriety of addressing mudbloods as such, till the extent that Father had to step in to prevent Mother from drawing her wand.

Regulus shoves that thought out of his head, and it goes into the nice little box labelled 'Aquila Shenanigans', along with his questions on how his five-year-old sister had been able to lecture his three-year-old self about Muggle mechanics and history. He has another box labelled 'Sirius Shenanigans', which comprise mainly of the small pranks and magical outbursts his brother has had over the years. It has much more content in it than Aquila's but somehow, Regulus feels that when he eventually learns Occlumency, sometime in his teenage years, according to Mother, it'll still be much easier to sort out than Aquila's.

Although, Regulus does think that when he grows up, he'd get his own 'motorcycle'. From what he remembers of Aquila's lectures, he feels that he'd like that. He knows Sirius will, considering he had been all but bouncing when Aquila pointed one of them out as it raced past their street.

That thought gets shoved to the back of his mind as well; he doubts that he ought to be able to remember things from his toddler years, but more amazing things have happened before. Most of them centred on Aquila.

_("Your sister could do this when she was three! Accidental magic is not the only sign of a proper pureblood!")_

Regulus pushes that out of his head too. It's not his fault that he's not Aquila, and it's certainly not Aquila's fault that she shines.

"I guess another reason is because my siblings put in a lot of effort to perform that story for my birthday," Regulus says as the silence stretches a bit too long, hoping that his words don't sound bitter. Because he really does love it that his siblings care for him, even if Mother is adamant about getting him on par with them, with _Aquila_. He knows, somehow, that it may drive a wedge between them, because as much as Mother likes to compare him and Aquila, she loves comparing Sirius to the two of them, and if there is one thing all Blacks have in common, it's that they all hate being considered inferior. The only difference is how well they can hide their emotions.

There is no way Regulus would ever let that happen. Whatever unrest that was happening (yes, Regulus has noticed how their parents have been acting and the sudden interest Aquila had in _the Daily Prophet_ ; it was just a matter of putting two and two together. He's pretty sure Sirius has caught on as well.), he wasn't going to let that drive him and his siblings apart. His siblings mean the world to him; they were the ones that cared for him voluntarily (as much as he likes Kreacher, the old Elf was duty-bound to take care of him; his siblings weren't), the ones that comforted him when he had night terrors, the ones that sat down with him to tutor him for hours, even after their own grilling lessons. Not his parents; not Father who tries, but is always busy, not Mother who wants to, but has and always will put the House first.

A hand lands softly on his head and Regulus starts slightly. "We're touched, Regulus," Sirius grins, light grey eyes, so similar to Regulus' own, warm and Aquila nods regally, a hint of a smile on her lips. Regulus is grateful that he wasn't addressed as Reggie. That was… That was something special between them. Something he hadn't wanted to be shared with others.

(Sirius and Aquila felt that way too, not that Regulus knew about that.)

"Do you need help with that Regulus?" Aquila asks. There's an odd look in her eyes, like she found something incredibly funny but knows that others won't get it, and Regulus files that away in the little box too. Someday, he'll figure them all out, but for now he nods and gestures at the passage he was supposed to translate. Next to him, Barty rattles off his own questions as well.

The twins settle themselves opposite him and Barty, and Sirius prattles on about the passage, translating phrases from Latin to English, while Aquila's fingers ghost over Barty's textbook, storm-grey eyes flickering through lines of theory before she quietly explains the concept to him. Only, halfway through, Sirius injects himself into their conversation and Aquila easily switches from explaining the difference between the properties of a crushed unicorn horn and a powdered one to picking up where Sirius had stopped in his translation.

Regulus watches his siblings toggle between explanations without pause or stumble, something only experience and a deep understanding can bring about, and he grins to himself. The action doesn't go unnoticed by his siblings, but Regulus only gets identical raised brows as a response; the twins don't even halt in their respective explanations.

The surge of affection he feels for Aquila and Sirius chases away the lingering bitterness, and he tackles his homework with far more cheer than he did before.

.

Another hour passes before their parents conclude their business and the Crouches are whisked away in a torrent of green flames.

Mother takes a look at his work and sniffs in her it-is-acceptable-but-not-enough-for-praise way and stalks off. If Father had been any less a pureblood Lord, he probably would have rolled his eyes at Mother's behaviour. As it were, Father only gives him a nod, though his eyes are warm, before he leaves. It's likely that he's gone to prepare for his lessons with his apprentice. Regulus clamps down on the unpleasant feeling rising in his chest. There's no reason to feel this way, he reasons. Mother has always expected better, and it is only logical that Father would spend time with his apprentice.

(He resolutely does not think about the many instances Mother has gifted Aquila with praise, even if Mother expects far more from Aquila than from he and Sirius combined, nor does he dwell on the times where Father spends hours working with Aquila on her scriptures.)

Perhaps he isn't as good at hiding his disappointment as he thinks he is because the moment the door closes, his siblings are there showering him with praises (Sirius) and encouragement (Aquila). Regulus can't help but beam at them. His siblings are the best.

.

Evening found the Black Trio lounging in the Library.

Regulus' attention is briefly caught by his siblings, who are quietly debating over the effectiveness of wandless casting, before it returns to the book in front of him. Lying on his stomach with his elbows propping up his head, the youngest Black briefly wonders what it would be like to visit the places mentioned in the book. There's a glum look on his face because he's reading a muggle book and Regulus knows that his chances of ever seeing those places are next to zero.

"What's gotten you so down Reggie?"

"And don't say it's nothing, you've got that whole depressed kitten aura around you."

Sometimes, Regulus wonders just how observant the twins are. Because he's pretty sure his sibling were having a rather intense debate, and with how focused both of them were, it's downright baffling how easily they can pick up on such small ques.

"According to this," he syas as he flips to the page with the muggle map printed on it and pushes the book forward to let his siblings have a better look, "there are all kinds of places that muggles visit, especially if they're foreigners."

Regulus watches as his Aquila and Sirius peer over the map intently, already knowing what exactly they're looking at. The Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben…

"I'd like to visit them sometime. Only, I doubt Mother would ever let us do so." He doesn't bother masking his disappointment. There's hardly any point in doing so anyways; his siblings would've picked up on it easily.

The twins share a look, and suddenly there's a glint in both their eyes and they both sport smirks that just _promise_ trouble. Regulus doesn't know what he just prompted, and he's very hesitant to find out. The last time either had such a look on their face, Aquila disappeared for hours doing Merlin-knows-what, while Sirius had somehow managed to procure enough catnip to summon nearly ever cat (magical and non-magical) in Diagon Alley and dump it on Bellatrix. Aquila had been involved somehow; the twins' face had been glowing as their cousin screeched unholy murder down the Alley.

Hilarious. But it got them in _so much trouble_. (Of course Mother found out. _Regulus_ had, and the twins hadn't really bothered with covering up that fact.)

As such, Regulus braces himself when he asks, "What?"

"What if we just go?"

" _What?!_ " There was no way Sirius had just suggested what he did.

"Not now of course, but someday. Just the three of us."

"What." Regulus stares. He's pretty sure he's a sight to see, jaw dropped to the ground and absolutely gobsmacked. Because he can _already see how much can go wrong._ Aquila and Sirius couldn't be serious!

"Well, _I_ am Sirius. But since we're twins and all, I guess we could both be Sirius. Two halves of the same whole and all that you know."

"As the smarter half of Sirius, I suggest we have our tour on Halloween. Father and Mother are going out for a Ball that night, and they're not bringing us. They won't be back until the following day the earliest. Plus, no one's going to look twice at a couple of kids out Trick-or-Treating, especially if there'll be a ton of them doing the same."

They were serious.

Regulus puts his head in his hands and groans. _Merlin help us. What have I done?_

Still, he can't quite fight the smile tugging at his lips.

.

Regulus is almost certain that there is a record for the highest number of anxiety attacks a six year old can have. He's equally sure he'd just broke them, considering what an utterly nerve-wracking three months it had been.

It started off when Aquila ordered several meters of fabric from Twilfitt and Tatting's _right in front of Mother_.

Regulus was pretty sure his heart had stopped then. Underneath the panic that was surging through him, there was a small bubble of relief that Mother's attention had been on Aquila and thus hadn't seen him stiffen. As it were, Mother only raised an eyebrow in question.

Aquila, in perfect nonchalance, had replied, "I want to try embroidering runes onto fabric. I was thinking of testing whether the material and colour would affect the efficiency of a scripture."

Miraculously, Mother had bought that. Somehow. Regulus is still unsure how in Merlin's name that had worked.

Then, there had been several instances when Kreacher had walked in on them either making their Halloween costume (Aquila) or pouring over Muggle maps as they planned their route (Sirius and Regulus). It was only due to Regulus begging the old Elf not to mention this to their parents that they hadn't been found out.

And then, there had been the time when their cousins had visited and Bellatrix had summoned the half-finished coat Aquila was working on, fully intent on informing their mother that they were up to some mischief. Aquila had chased after the teen, out of the room and tackled her in the hallway. There was a scuffle, hair pulling and screeching and Regulus wasn't sure if he had been more terrified of Bellatrix drawing her wand or their mother hearing the noise and coming to investigate. It ended with Aquila slamming a knee into Bellatrix's stomach and ripping the coat away, snarling under her breath, while Bellatrix screeched bloody murder and threats before fleeing downstairs.

Regulus had been certain that their cousin was going to tattle on them, and both he and Sirius had been frantic. Aquila, on the other hand, had merely hissed something under her breath (Regulus had been too far away to hear what) and had stalked back into their room with a curt, "I've got it handled."

Regulus spent the next hour fretting, terror coursing through his veins as Aquila hunched over the coat, embroidering furiously, occasionally hissing words quietly. Sirius, for all he trusted and believed in Aquila's abilities, only looked slightly better. Bellatrix wouldn't interfere with the meeting their parents were having – she wasn't suicidal – but the moment it ended… Mother would rain fire and brimstone on them for fighting like _Muggles_ if not for their little project.

So, when their mother burst into their room, magic erratic and agitated, Regulus was not ashamed to say that he had squeaked in fright. So had Sirius. It was all Regulus to do to not faint in sheer terror when their mother interrogated them on their project. As it were, Aquila merely rose from her hunched position and handed the coat to their mother, pointing at the sleeve.

Which had the Light Scripture embroidered on it. Mother had raised an eyebrow and muttered the incantation, and even Regulus had seen the almost pleasant surprise that had flickered across her face when a dim light shone.

Mother had returned the coat and left them without a word. As the door clicked shut, Regulus leaned against Sirius for support, muttering praises. Sirius, staring at the door in shock, looked as if he had just witnessed the resurrection of Merlin, Morgana and the Founders.

"What about the fight?!"

Aquila gave an impish smile, "Maybe Bella forgot about it."

Regulus just gave up trying to understand his life.

When Halloween finally arrives, Regulus feels as though he's lost ten years of his life.

.

Their parents leave at two in the afternoon. There's a mad flurry of motion as Regulus and his siblings' stuff the necessary items they'd stashed around their rooms into a magically enchanted bag. Muggle money that they'd exchanged the last time they visited Diagon Alley, various Muggle tourist maps and a spare wand Aquila managed to smuggle out from Father's study in case they need to summon the Knight Bus for emergency transport.

Regulus decides not to ask her how she did that. Instead, he focuses on putting his costume. When he finishes, he stands in front of his mirror and stares at his reflection. He's wearing a white dress shirt and a black suit over it. Lensless glasses are perched on his nose and a golden pocket watch is tucked into his waistcoat. As Regulus puts on his final accessory on his head, he grins and dashes out of his room, long, white rabbit ears bouncing with his steps.

He's careful to avoid the portraits in the hall, ducking into rooms and corners, only moving when the portraits are distracted. It's not a hard thing to do, since many are absent from their frames, having gone visiting as well and most that remain are napping. He meets his siblings in the drawing room, and his grin widens as he takes in their own costume.

Sirius pulls his hat off with a flourish, grinning widely and giving a dramatic bow as Regulus enters, while Aquila goes into a curtsy, holding up her blue skirt and white apron. The three of them let out giggles, eyes shining in anticipation and Aquila motions them towards the window. Opening it, she explains, "I managed to lift wards around this balcony." Outside, the evening sun glares onto the empty pavement. It would be at least a few more hours before the streets began to fill with people going Trick-or-Treat.

Walking to a corner Aquila pushes a tapestry aside, revealing a small alcove and a bundle of rope. Regulus and Sirius stares as their sister ties one end on the railing of the balcony and throws the rest down.

Regulus trades a look with Sirius and it is his brother who breaks the brief silence. "Through the window? Down a rope ladder? _Really?_ "

Aquila shrugs in response, "I couldn't get the wards off the front door. Besides, it's just one story. And the rope's enchanted. It's quite safe."

Regulus forgoes asking how Aquila managed to route the wards to begin with in exchange for peering around her to look outside. They had never ventured into the Muggle world before. It would be the first time leaving wizarding premises and to do so made every part of Regulus both eager and full on terrified. The latter is definitely winning.

Seeing the excitement on his siblings' faces however, more so on Sirius than Aquila, dampens his fears and brings out his own. As Aquila hikes up her skirt and moves to climb over the balcony, she freezes and both Regulus and Sirius whip their heads around to see sunken eyes sending a piercing stare at them. Regulus feels a jolt of fear shoot through him, even as he regards Kreacher coolly.

Kreacher nods at them, "Is young masters and young mistress going somewhere?"

Beside him, Regulus feels Sirius shifting on his feet, even as he answers, "Yes." Regulus finds himself slightly impressed with how even Sirius' tone is. "We'll be away for a few hours."

The house elf gives all of them a weighted stare, and just as Regulus is certain that the Elf is going to send them back to their rooms, Kreacher nods again. "Very well. Young masters and young mistress be safe."

Next to him, Sirius' jaw unhinges a bit at his compliance, and so does Regulus'. Regulus isn't sure what Aquila's face shows, but it must've been amusing judging from the flash of humour that went off in the old Elf's eyes as Kreacher peers over Regulus' shoulder.

"You-You're letting us go?" Regulus can't help say in disbelief. To be truthful, Kreacher confronting them isn't at all surprising, and Regulus had been fully prepared to order him not to stop them or tell their parents, no matter how much he dislikes issuing such orders. For the usually stubborn elf to just give in… Flabbergasting. Absolutely flabbergasting. Regulus gives up understanding his life. Again.

Kreacher, oblivious to Regulus' internal crisis, merely bobs his head, "Young masters and young mistress wish to go out. Young masters and young mistress have made an effort to plan and stay safe. Young mistress has also made preparations for emergency transport. So Kreacher will let them go." Kreacher gave a toothy grin, "Kreacher will not mention this to Master and Mistress."

Regulus stares. Sirius stares. Regulus is pretty sure Aquila is staring as well. And Kreacher just stares back at them, looking greatly amused.

The silence is broken by Aquila, who, to Regulus' astonishment, sounds very off kilter, "Y-You knew what we were doing?"

Kreacher gives her a very pointed look, "Of course Kreacher knew. Kreacher is an Elf. Kreacher always knows what is happening in the House."

"Oh." For the first time Regulus can remember, Aquila looks very, very surprised. As if she was really the Alice who had just fallen into Wonderland, and not just dressing up as her.

(It's extremely weird and slightly distressing because Aquila is always composed.)

But Regulus can see that Kreacher letting them go is a good thing, and so he takes it in stride, like he does whenever odd things happen (which, given who his siblings are, is more often than not). Apparently, Sirius also thinks this way, since he grins at the Elf and, to Regulus' eternal shock, sticks out his hand to Kreacher. "Thank you, Kreacher," Sirius says, and there's no mistaking the sincerity in his voice. "We really appreciate it."

Kreacher gives him a long look before shaking his hand, "You're welcome, sir. Please stay safe."

"We will." It is Aquila who replies, giving the Elf a look that is half grateful, half something else. Regulus can't quite tell what. It looks like surprise, fear and… guilt, shockingly, rolled into one. Regulus wonders why she'd ever feel guilty but his gut tells him that if he asks, Aquila will clam up. So instead, he does what he always has; he pushes the question into the 'Aquila Shenanigans' box and focuses on the present.

With Sirius' and Kreacher's hands outstretched like they were, they almost looked as if they were equals. Regulus smiles.

"Let's go," Aquila calls out and pushes herself over the railing, deftly scaling down the rope ladder, dress fluttering in the afternoon breeze. Once her feet touch the pavement, she turns to stare back up at them, idly smoothing down her dress. "Show off," Sirius mutters, but there's a gleam in his eyes and he turns to Regulus

Regulus says his own thanks to Kreacher and follows his sister, awkwardly climbing over the railing with Sirius' help and down the ladder. It doesn't sway at all, nor does it feel like actual rope. Instead, it's as if his feet are standing on the steps of a staircase, and his hands are holding the railings. Still, Regulus feels relief wash through him when lands in his sister's arms and his feet touch solid ground. Aquila fusses over him for a moment before both turn to look at Sirius.

The last of the Black Trio peers down and scales the railing easily, careful not to let his pants or coat get caught on the metal and climbs down the ladder just as quickly. Within the minute he lands on the pavement. "That was fun and all, but was that really necessary?" Sirius asks, adjusting his top hat.

"Oh hush, Hatter, where's your sense of adventure?" Aquila rolls her eyes, "And I told you, I couldn't bypass the wards on the front door. Father and Mother would have been notified if we walked through that. Come on."

With the wards around Grimmauld Place, no one notices them climbing down, nor do they pay attention to their sudden appearance. The Black Trio walks down the pavement, and Regulus pulls his cloak slightly tighter around him as a chilly wind blows past them.

There were some other Muggles out, though none of them in costume yet, and Regulus blatantly stares at them. These Muggles… don't look that different from themselves. In fact, if Regulus ignored the clothes, they could have been wizards for all he knew. Although, he doubts their costumes will have anything on the ones Aquila had made and Regulus feels a spark of pride for his sister when several Muggle children turn to look at them and exclaim over how pretty or cool their costumes are. Regulus and Sirius preen at the praise, even Aquila smiles a bit more widely.

They don't go up to the other houses though. Not only is it far too early, collecting candy isn't their goal, seeing the sights is and after ten minutes of walking, they are far enough from Grimmauld Place to hail a cab. Regulus thinks he got over the novelty of seeing these 'vehicles' so closely fairly quickly, even though he knows he's staring at the yellow 'taxi' far longer than necessary. But Aquila is speaking to the cabbie, no doubt spinning some tale of meeting their parents in the city centre before they go for Trick-or-Treating, so Regulus doesn't really force himself to pay attention.

It's only when the cabbie grunts at them to enter that Regulus snaps to attention, and clambers into the taxi after his siblings.

"Where to kids?"

"The Tower of London," Sirius pipes up immediately, and as he starts to drive, the cabbie glances at them with a bit of concern, "Buckle up kids."

It takes them twenty minutes to get to their destination, but Regulus hardly minds, leaning close to the window and drinking in the sights of Muggle London. The tall buildings, the busy people, even the passing double decker busses. He distractedly notes that Sirius was doing the same, face pressing against the window on the other side. Even Aquila, who despite looking fairly amused at their antics, was being more attentive than usual, grey eyes flickering between the sights.

When they reach, Regulus feels his breath hitch slightly. Even from a distance, the Tower of London paints a majestic sight. He's dimly aware of Aquila tipping the cabbie generously and only starts to walk when Sirius nudges at him.

When he does start moving, Regulus ends up all but dragging his siblings towards the Tower.

.

They spend close to three hours in the Tower, far longer than planned, ignoring the odd looks they get for being in costume, and question their tour guide for every shred of information they can think of. The Yeoman Warder answers them jovially, and is even more amused when they don't run off screaming as he recites the cases of execution that occurred in the past in all their great, gory details. They get mildly annoyed grunts for holding up the queue when they see the Crown Jewels and spend nearly an hour searching for all the ravens that live in the Tower. Finally, when five-thirty rolls about, Regulus and Sirius have to be all but dragged out of the area by their sister, much to the amusement of the adults and staff around them.

Aquila then proceeds to drag them to Buckingham Palace, navigating the London Underground with uncanny ease. Their clothes drew even more odd looks in the train, but between Sirius babbling about the various facts regarding Buckingham Palace and Aquila complaining that they missed the last entry timing, Regulus hardly notices the looks.

When they do eventually reach Buckingham Palace, it had indeed passed visiting hours, much to Sirius' and Regulus' disappointment. Aquila merely sighs, blearily informing them that most of the attractions would probably closed for the day as well, which makes the trio even more disheartened.

Not that it keeps them down for long.

Sirius proceeds to drag them around the city, and Regulus takes in the sights, marvelling at how Muggles had flourished even without magic. They stop for dinner at a small restaurant, and it takes Sirius using all of his charisma and Aquila playing up her cute factor to charm the waitress into letting them dine there. Regulus whispers womanizer under his breath and snickers at the annoyed look Sirius throws at him.

It takes them barely half an hour to finish dinner and they spend the next few hours wandering aimlessly, going from shop to shop without losing each other, occasionally using the Light Scripture embroidered on Sirius' sleeve to read their maps. As the night wore on, their costumes garners less and less questioning looks as the streets began to fill with other children in similar get up. They continue their exploration until they arrive on Westminster Bridge and Big Ben chimes ten times.

"I think it's time we head back," Aquila muses and Regulus nods, suddenly feeling lethargic. Sirius voices his agreement as well and digs through the bag for the wand. Sticking it into the air, barely a moment passes when the Knight Bus arrives in front of them, with a literal bang.

Aquila rattles off their address and pays the conductor, before all three of them clamber onto a bed. The bus bursts into motion and it's all the three of them can do to hold onto the bedposts and each other for dear life. A few minutes pass, though it feels like an eternity to Regulus, and he looks out of the widow, seeing the colours of the city lights blur pass them and his reflection's pale face. He glances at his siblings and would have laughed at how uncomfortable they look if he isn't in the same predicament. Instead, he clutches at the sheets and feverishly hopes that the ride would be over soon.

.

When they do eventually stumble off the Knight Bus, Regulus nearly face faults onto the pavement. His siblings aren't much better.

"Next time, we summon Kreacher."

"Agreed."

They stagger to the front porch and although it takes them nearly fifteen minutes to get their bearings well enough to climb the ladder again, no other complications arises.

As Aquila pulls up the ladder, Kreacher appears in the room with three mugs of hot chocolate and ushers them towards their baths.

And Regulus laughs, because this is the most fun he's ever had.

To think, all this started because he started talking about _Alice in Wonderland_.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was meant to be happy and light hearted. And then Regulus happened. So some angst before we get to the happy parts. Whoops.
> 
> This takes part sometime between Chapters 12 and 13 (which is in the works).
> 
> Yes, Aquila (eight at the moment; her birthday's in November) got into a catfight with seventeen year old Bellatrix. And won. Partly Aquila is not above fighting dirty. Partly because Bellatrix is not suicidal enough to curse her younger cousin in her own house. And also for comedy :p
> 
> I wonder if you guys caught the off-camera mentions of Mipsy? And Kreacher was so fun to write ;)
> 
> Thoughts on this?


End file.
